An inquest into the death of Steve Bruce’s four-month-old grandson, Madison Bruce-Smith, has led to a coroner urgently asking for national action to address the unregulated ‘maternity services’ industry and unqualified ‘maternity nurses’. On Monday, an inquest heard that the child died after being put down on their stomach in their cot on the advice of a ‘maternity nurse’ with no formal medical qualifications, but not in line with national guidelines, which the court heard state babies should sleep on their backs.

Madison’s father, Matt Smith, and husband to Bruce’s daughter Amy, found Madison ‘unresponsive’ on October 18, 2024, at their house in Bowdon, Trafford. Smith is himself a former football player, representing several Championship clubs before retiring two months before his daughter’s death.

Coroner Ms Mutch said: “The demand for these services from parents hoping to have some support is clearly there, but in effect, anyone who is employing them is employing somebody who may have little experience or qualifications. The unregulated advice given by maternity nurses and maternity services puts children at risk.”

The Manchester Evening News reports that she recorded a narrative verdict, acknowledging that Madison’s sleeping position was ‘prone and unsafe’. Ms Mutch is also issuing a report to prevent future deaths to the secretary of state for health and social care, currently Wes Streeting, to call for regulation of maternity nurses and maternity services companies.

The Smiths described Madison as a ‘precious, perfect boy’. The couple added: “Losing Madison has been utterly excruciating. It has totally shattered our entire family. We will never forgive ourselves for agreeing to tummy sleeping. We relied and trusted on Eva Clements’ experience. We trusted her because she was recommended to us.”

In a statement, the Smiths said: “The sleep nanny and maternity practitioner industry is entirely unregulated. Anyone can call themselves a sleep nurse or a maternity nanny without any requirement for qualification, accredited training, safeguarding checks or professional oversight.

“There is no regulatory framework, no compulsory standard, and no mechanism to ensure competence or prevent unsafe individuals from working with newborn babies. Parents are easily misled by language that implies professionalism.

“We believed Ruth Asare’s service was structured, vetted and supervised. We believed Eva Clements was trained, competent and operating within a regulated system. None of those assumptions were true.”

They added: “Without regulation, this will happen again. Other parents, just as we did, will place trust in individuals who should never be responsible for the care of infants.”